You Still Have Me
by lastrequest
Summary: Slight variation on what happened at the end of 'Sleepers', Nikola thinks he's lost everything but he hasn't...


I've just watched 'Sleepers' and the romantic in me was overwhelmed by the urge to write the ending just a little differently :) This was just such a wonderful episode, great chemistry between Helen and Nikola :sighs: - so gutted they devamped him and he lost his immortality :( but now he has this new power going on so that should be fun! Anywho here it is :) Please leave a comment if you have the time :)

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"You must be feeling guilty."

"You can't seriously blame me for this?"

"Forgive me Helen, it's just my soul crushing depression talking, I'm not myself."

Her heart went out to him. He'd never looked so crushed in his life. That moment in that room… that look of terror on his face as a part of him had literally died…. she'd never forget that expression.

"On the contrary, you _are_ your real self again, human," she offered, although he'd spent longer as a half-vampire than he had a human being. "Mortal-"

"Watch your language," he snapped, but he could see the mischievous sparkle in her eyes. He knew what she was thinking, knew what she was trying to do. She'd changed her tone to a taunting one, to provoke a reaction in him other than the utter helplessness written across his features right now.

"I'm sorry Nikola, but it's true." She apologised. She just wanted to see a spark of life in him again, instead of seeing him so empty and confused. "I've tried everything I can think of, there's simply no way to re-vamp you."

He didn't want to accept it, but she was right. He supposed if knowing Helen had taught him anything, it was how to pick yourself back up despite all the times you got knocked down.

"You see how this puts a crimp in my plans for world domination?" He joked. "Not to say I won't keep trying."

"I would expect nothing less."

Her smile was brighter. She understood his pain, but she didn't want it to defeat him. She wouldn't let it.

"Very well. If this is to be a wake, then let's do it properly. Join me in a toast?"

She lifted her glass ready, and waited for him to continue.

"To happier times. Those days of bloodlust, now gone. Plus, you gotta admit vampires are just plain cool."

And then he grinned.

"Amen,"

"Here's to the glorious vampire race, once mighty, now extinct."

She didn't miss the sorrow in his voice, despite the front he was putting on. He wasn't just bidding a farewell to the race, he was mourning that part of himself that he no longer had, that he could no longer draw his strength from. His eyes met hers and held them for a moment or two, before he started to drink. She knew what he was thinking. He thought he'd lost it all. He'd never been ordinary, even before the source blood, but it had given him a purpose. It had given him meaning in life. It had made him feel whole and now that had been stripped away from him he thought he had nothing.

"You haven't lost _everything_ you know, Nikola."

She noticed him pause and lower his glass ever so slightly.

"I have," he almost whispered, trying not to let his voice break as he stared down at his wine and swirled the liquid around and around.

"You haven't." she insisted. "You still have me. I'll help you through this Nikola,"

She moved a little closer to him on the couch, her hand reaching to his and holding onto him as though her touch alone could keep him grounded. Then she leant ever so slowly towards him, and pressed a gentle kiss to his mouth.

He couldn't control the moan that escaped him. Perhaps he could live with what he'd lost, if it bought him and Helen closer together after all of these years.

She reluctantly pulled back a little, and noticed a perplexed expression on his face as he eyed her neck.

"I know you're attracted to me Helen, but this is ridiculous."

She glanced down and saw her necklace hovering in the air towards him. They exchanged confused expressions, and he put his drink down on the table. As he did so the tray slid across to meet his hand.

"How… curious,"

He hovered his hand over the tray and it shot up to meet him. And suddenly she saw his eyes alight with life and hope again. She didn't know if it was her kiss, or the discovery he had a new ability, she was just pleased to see that light back in his eyes. As quickly as it had come, his hopelessness had dissolved.

"Well, I can work with that." He said with a hint of excitement, waving his hand around in the air and looking back at her again.

She sighed. She just knew this ability would cause a whole hell of trouble just like his last one had. But she wouldn't have Nikola any other way.

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A/N: Ta da! Do leave a comment if you get the urge to do so! I wonder what his new abilities are going to entail…. I do hope we see more of him in future eps!


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